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. 2003 Sep 27;327(7417):725-8.
doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7417.725.

Communication and miscommunication of risk: understanding UK parents' attitudes to combined MMR vaccination

Paul Bellaby  1
Affiliations

Communication and miscommunication of risk: understanding UK parents' attitudes to combined MMR vaccination

Paul Bellaby. BMJ. .

Abstract

In this article on the public perception of risks Paul Bellaby considers three examples of risks to children in the UK—an insignificant risk (autism caused by MMR vaccine), a real but probably small risk (vCJD from BSE), and a real and demonstrably larger risk (injuries from road crashes) and contrasts the perceptions of the risks by parents

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Since their inception, vaccination campaigns have provoked vigorous opposition from sections of the public Credit: MEPL
Figure 2
Figure 2
The government's handling of the BSE crisis led to widespread distrust of “the establishment” over other safety issues. Here the minister of agriculture of the time eats a hamburger with his daughter to demonstrate that beef was “perfectly safe” Credit: JIM JAMES/PA
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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